PAS Research Centre operations director Dr Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki said in his Facebook posting that PAS had proposed Tengku Razaleigh as prime minister based on feedback from party members, who viewed that his appointment would help split the strong rural Malay support for Umno.

“Anwar (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) did not agree to the proposal, so the matter was closed without any public announcement made,” he added.

Dr Mohd Zuhdi said the consultative approach taken by PAS within Pakatan was more “moral” compared to a Pakatan Rakyat party making a unilateral announcement.

“One person cannot be allowed to hold the veto power and then later ‘forces’ his other friends to accept his view by influencing the Pakatan presidential council,” he added.

During a forum on Tuesday, Rafizi brought up the issue of PAS choice of Tengku Razaleigh as prime minister in the event that Pakatan was successful in the 2013 elections.

He added that the matter was not raised again following Barisan’s eventual victory.

Rafizi added that PAS had indicated that it did not want Anwar as the prime minister.